This is a copy of a post that can be found here:
http://www.motoringalliance.com/foru...acing-tsw.html

I forgot to add it here for the suspensionphiles. So here it is, and props to TSW and Onasled!

Oh, I've updated some stuff in the street and track impressions sections.

Background
Well, this suspension thing has been a long saga for me, some of which I'll update in this thread. But the long and the short of it is that my MINI is handling like never before!

Purchase
After going back and forth about which suspension to put on my car, I finally decided on TSW's KW V2 setup with 450 lb/in front and 500 lb/in springs.

Install
Greg from Onasled Racing helped me through the decision, and given his experience setting up quick MINIs (as well as making his own custom race MINI), I thought it'd be a great idea for him to do the install and setup for the car. This was a good decision.

I dropped the car off to Greg and he began by dyno-testing the KW springs. KW must have sent a weird pair of rears, because they ended up being progressive, which is not what I was looking for.

As always, TSW's customer support was second to none. They weren't happy about the test results, and were as confused as we were. They accepted the springs back and will send them to KW for more testing. Obviously this is an exception and not a rule for these KW springs - I've seen others who have tested theirs and all is good. The lesson, though, is to test your springs/shocks before you install!

So, we got around that hurdle (time was an issue) by ordering some Hypercoils with similar spring rates. If you're interested in the dynos for the KWs and the Hypers, PM me and I can help you out.

I also purchased the Vorshlag camber plates (the ones TSW used to sell), which are beautiful pieces. It turns out that my IE adjustables had completely failed, and the only thing attaching my front suspension to the car was the weight of the car itself. Scary!

Pics
Here's a shot of the corner-balancing:


My car's "stance" before:




With my track wheels/tires (205/50 azenis on 15x7 slipstream):


Greg also had a set of used 949 Racing 15x8 6ULs on basically new 225/45 Toyo R888s. Obviously, I had to ****** those up, too. Here's a pic of basic install, before any setup:


When I picked up the car, it looked like this:


Then I put on my street wheels/tires (16in x-lites, 205/50 GSD3):



Front clearance closeup:


Rear clearance closeup:


In order to get everything to fit, we had to use a 5mm H&R spacer in the rear, and Greg had to do some shaving of the inner plastic flares. Also, to get the 949s to fit properly (for track work), Greg made some hub-centering rings out of aluminum.

Here's how the car sits on the track wheels/tires (in the Lightning paddock):






Street Impressions
The car is really freakin' low. I scrape the plastic thing that hangs down from the front on almost everything. This was to be expected, though, because prior to setup, I told Greg to set it up as best he can for the track since the car sees limited street work.

At first I was shocked at how smooth the setup was with the shocks set in the middle of their rebound setting. Then it started to wear on me a bit and the bouncing was a little tiring. The shocks/springs handled imperfections in the road well, but the new camber plates, witch put nothing between the suspension and the body except metal, make for much more noise and harshness. Hitting a pothole is rough. Good thing I never conceived this to be a decent street setup.

Update: After spending a few thousand miles with the suspension on the street, I can report that it is very bouncy. It's only bad bouncy in certain situations, but it's to the point where I'm going to stiffen the rebound to see if I can help it. At some point, though, I have to realize that this really is not a street suspension. That won't stop me from driving it, though, 'cause it's too much fun.

I'm not sure if the bounciness is from too much spring and not enough shock, or if I've just never had a suspension like this and don't know what it should feel like. TSW said the shocks are valved properly for these springs, and since Greg tested them before install, I have to assume all is copacetic with them. I'll stiffen up the rebound and report back. Well, I'll probably forget to report back.

Track Impressions
The car is completely transformed. We kept the RSB (H&R 19mm) on full stiff, and Greg aligned and corner-balanced the car.

Turn-in is instantaneous, weight transfer is much less dramatic, and it literally sticks to the road and does whatever I ask it to. It only pushed when I made stupid errors; the rule of the weekend was balanced cornering with slight oversteer (which is how I like it).

Obviously, a lot of this transformation has to do with the addition of R-comp tires. It did take me a while to actually trust them, but once I got used to the rubber and the suspension, we were flying.

My instructor, who also drives a MINI (stock suspension on Hoosiers) said at least three times: "Your car handles SO much better than mine; this car is set up perfectly; what else do you have in this thing!" hahaha I wanted him to drive it for a few laps, but it never worked out.

I can definitely see myself being comfortable on track with an even stiffer setup and with an even greater difference front to back in spring rates. I just like how that feels - it makes it more razor sharp and twitchy. Track driving is a personal thing; I like to feel everything that's going on, and I've never felt like the MINI was going to bite me in return.

There were times on track where I'd ham-hand it into a corner, and it'd plow. There were times when I'd lift a little too much and it'd come around a bit. There were times when I was too hot and it'd come around a bit. It was predictable considering what input I was giving it, and correction was intuitive and easy. The suspension has A LOT left in it - I was not getting all I could out of the car according to my instructor.

Some action shots


Entering the "lightbulb" and proceeding through it. This is a +- 80 mph banked bulb, one late apex, get to full throttle ASAP since it leads to the front straight. I was getting to +-120 on the front straight after this turn.







This last picture is at full-throttle, at the limit moving right towards the track out cone and onto the front straight. The car looks well-balanced and felt that way, too.

This full-caged M3 was a lot faster than I was!


Two MINIs and a Corvette (both MINIs were a lot quicker than the Vette):


Whoever bought the Nuzzo racecar was in my group (didn't get a chance to meet him):


Lightning is an excellent track, one I definitely prefer to NJMP's Thunderbolt. There are spots where the HP cars have the advantage, like coming out of 7 (the 90 degree left), but a smoothly-driven car that can keep its momentum is really rewarded here.

Excellent weekend put on by the NJ and DelVal CCA chapters - can't say enough about what they do for us.

And the car was incredible. I stopped counting how many people would walk by it in the paddock, look under it, examine the hood, look for the suspension, scratch their heads and then ask, "what's in this thing?!" I'd just say, "A great suspension and a magical setup :D"

mb

 

Nice Work and Great Post. You can also find TSW KW Here

 

Oh yes, and right after the above event, my supercharger went kaput. Well sort of - the alternator went kaput, but that was most likely caused by the supercharger which was not running properly. Dustin (autoxcooper) took care of me. Great customer service, and all is well with the charger so far.

mb

 

Any more pics of the 6ULs?

 

Sounds like you are enjoying the new setup. That is great. But too much focus on the 'stance' and not enough info about the actual results. I'm curious what were the corner weights and spring rates? What alignment specs were used?

I'm glad you commented on the streetability as I've heard way too many people refer to overly stiff setups on the street as "riding great". It is always a compromise setting up a dual purpose car for street and track duty. What works on one doesn't work on the other hence the compromises. Your comments also further reinforces my decision to not use those Vorshlag camber plates for a street car - or the IE adjustable camber plates for that matter.

 

^ Spring rates were 450 lb/in front and 500 lb/in springs

I think the standard TSW KW rates are 6k/6k (336 lbs/in).

It's concerning that they're bouncy....performance coilovers shouldn't really be bouncy. I hope they became a little more stable after some adjustments. That is pretty firm for a Mini though so I wouldn't expect "good" ride quality. The bounciness tells me the rear shock can't handle that 500 lbs/in spring. Turning up the rear damping will help but it may just be out of range.

- Andrew